Social Media for Your Chamber of Commerce
December 18, 2018 In Blog No Comment

A chamber of commerce, sometimes referred to as a board of trade, is a type of business network comprised of businesses with a goal of furthering the interests of local businesses.

Chambers of commerce have an early history. The first chamber of commerce was founded in 1599 in Marseille, France, followed by Bruges, Belgium 65 years later. (Click for a full history)

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, comprised of a network of 450+ community chambers of commerce representing 200,000+ Canadian businesses, seeks to advocate for public policies that encourage a vibrant and competitive business environment across Canada. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is an independent, non-partisan voice for Ontario businesses, and represents 135+ local chambers of commerce and local boards of trade.

Shortly after launching my business, Jennifer Baker Consulting, I became a member of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce with a goal to increase my connections and knowledge of the community. The following year I joined the board of directors, and subsequently joined the Executive Committee. In 2017, I served as Chair of the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce. During this time, I learned about the inner workings, opportunities and challenges that are faced by chambers of commerce, including brand management, fiscal responsibilities, membership, sponsorship, and event promotion.

With these topics in mind, coupled with my social media experience, I have launched: Chamber of Commerce & Social Media | Virtual Training!

This course has been designed as a webinar/online training, and focuses on topics that impact many chambers of commerce.

  1. Improving Your Chamber’s Online Brand:
    January 29, 10am-12pm EST
  2. Growing Your Chamber’s Social Media Following:
    February 5, 10am-12pm EST
  3. Making (MORE) Money with Your Chamber’s Social Media:
    February 12, 10am-12pm EST
  4. Using Social Media to Promote Your Chamber’s Activities:
    February 19, 10am-12pm EST
  5. Growing Your Membership Through Social Media:
    February 27, 10am-12pm EST
  6. Facebook Advertising:
    March 5, 10am-12pm EST

Click for more information, or to register.

 

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Organizing Your Facebook Presence
November 16, 2018 In Blog No Comment

Founded in 2004, Facebook boasts 1.49 billion daily active users, and 2.27 billion monthly active users. SproutSocial estimates there is approximately 60 million Facebook business Pages. With numbers like these, it is no surprise that there may be problems and challenges for Facebook users. If you have found inaccurate accounts, unofficial Pages, or old personal profiles, there is a way to organize and clean-up these accounts.

1. Convert a Facebook Profile to A Page

By converting to a Page, users can utilize more tools and share with a wider audience. You can only convert your profile to a Page once. When you convert your profile to a Page:
  • You’ll have both a profile and a Page after conversion.
  • We’ll transfer your profile picture and cover photo to the Page, and the name on your profile will become the Page’s name.
  • You can select from your friends, followers and pending friend requests and add them as your new Page’s followers. See more information in the section below.
  • You can choose which photos and videos to copy over from your profile, but keep in mind that views and other metrics remain with your profile and can’t transfer to the Page.

Click here to convert.

2. Claim Unclaimed Pages 

A Page may exist for your business even if someone from your business didn’t create it. For example, when someone checks into a place that doesn’t have a Page, an unmanaged Page is created to represent the location. If the Page is unmanaged, you’ll see Unofficial Page below its cover photo. You can request to claim the Page and become its admin, and you can merge the Page into a Page you already manage.
To claim or merge an unmanaged Page:
  1. Click Is this your business? below the Page’s cover photo.
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Keep in mind that you may be asked for information to verify your relationship with the business, such as business phone number, business email or documents.
3. Rename Old Pages
You’ll need to be an admin to request a change to your Page’s name. To request a change to your Page’s name:
  1. Click About on the left side of your Page.
  2. Click Edit next to your Page’s name.
  3. Enter a new Page name and click Continue.
  4. Review your request and click Request Change.

4. Merge Converted/Unclaimed/Renamed Pages

Visit: facebook.com/pages/merge

As with many things on Facebook, patience is required. Don’t expect to complete this task last in a day, as it may take up to a month to change a business’ name.

 

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How to Optimize Your Facebook Cover Photo for Mobile and Desktop Devices
October 24, 2018 In Blog 2 Comments

 

With information being so easily available at our fingertips, we want to make sure that it’s also accessible. You may have noticed the term mobile friendly being very popular over the past few years. It’s a term that won’t seem to go away anytime soon since a great majority of us use mobile devices when going on social media. When it comes to Facebook cover photos, you can optimize them so that they’re compatible with both mobile and desktop devices. Here’s how.

Use the correct image dimensions for your design

Free tools such as Canva are great for making Facebook cover photos. Even though Canva comes with an extensive library of templates for you to use, with a Facebook cover photo included, it’s best to create a custom design that can be used for both mobile and desktop devices. If your dimensions are 820 px (pixels) by 461 px, as opposed to 820 px by 312 px, then you allow yourself some extra space so that you don’t lose the important information that you want to share. Even if you’re sharing an photograph as your cover photo, it’s a good idea to also place the photo into a template so that the image appears as it should.

Keep all the important information in the center of your image

If you have a sale or important product that you want your audience to know about, then a Facebook cover page is the way to go. Make that efforts worthwhile by ensuring that the text is centred properly. If you’ve used a large enough template, then you won’t need to worry too much about cut off. But when something is front and centre, it’s most likely to grab your attention.

Change your photo periodically

With the changes in seasons and times of the year, it’s never a good idea to have a static Facebook cover photo. Social media’s main purpose is to update your audience on what is going on with your industry or business. Facebook’s cover photo is usually the first interaction your audience will have with your page. Inform your audience of any events, hashtag campaign, or sales you’re a part of. Send them well wishes throughout certain holidays. It’s a good idea to also have some evergreen cover photos. Cover photos that contain your value propositions are a great example especially when you are trying to bring newer followers to your page.

Use different Facebook cover formats

There are a number of creative ways to make the most of your Facebook cover images. Use the slideshow or video format to give your audience more opportunities to learn more about you. It’s also a nice way to show that you’re up-to-date with the way content can is commonly consumed. People love more than one photo and they love videos. So why not just give them what they want?

Facebook cover photos are another platform to showcase who you are and what’s going on with you as a business. What Facebook covers have impressed you the most? Leave a comment below!

 

 

 

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4 Ways to Plan Your Social Media Content for the 4th Quarter
October 10, 2018 In Blog No Comment

 

It’s that time of year again when the seasons change and a series of holidays are slumped together. So the question is, how do you plan your social media content? Here are a few ideas to you started.

Plan ahead

Just like your own holiday planning, you probably don’t want to be in a last minute frenzy. Thoughtful content that is planned well in advance usually results in thoughtful and positive responses from your audience. Since it’s the beginning of October, you may be thinking more in terms of fall-themed content, Thanksgiving, or Halloween. Block out some time to plan month by month so that you provide a professional and engaging image to your followers.

Consider the pain points during this time of year

What are the stresses and frustrations among your target audience during this time of year? Maybe it’s the stress that comes with getting ready for the holidays. How can your products or services alleviate those stresses? Don’t be afraid to be creative in this regard.

Include well-known holidays and lesser-known ones too

When your content is in line with certain times of the year, it’s a sign that you’re paying attention to what your audience is up to. Holidays such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day, and Christmas are some popular choices of holidays to tie into your content. But what about the days are not well known? Days such as World Kindness Day (which happens on November 13th by the way) can be applied to any business or industry. You can look at Fifth Story’s editorial calendar or Hootsuite’s list of weird “holidays” to get your inspiration started.  Acknowledging these holidays will help you to positively stand out and show your audience that you’ve put some thought into creating a meaningful experience for your followers. Use your best judgement of course when you are selecting these types of holidays. Think about your messaging or the potential response that can yield from this approach. If there’s a potential for negativity, then it’s best to avoid it.

Use tactics that have worked in the past

If you’ve paid close attention to the measurable outcomes of previous content, you’ll start to notice some themes surrounding what’s working and what’s not. These are efficient insights to follow through on since there’s really no need to reinvent the wheel. Your approach could be something simple as a photos or a messaging that has worked really well with your audience. Whatever it is, any successful approach will continue to be successful for as long as you keep using it. It may be the very thing that maintains the loyalty among your followers.

 

Scheduling your social media content in advance may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Following these tips will be a great starting point to keep you motivated and focused. Best of all, when your content is planned in advance, it will leave you with more time to engage with your audience and do what you do best. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.

 

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4 Types of Negative Posts and How You Can Handle Each One
September 6, 2018 In Blog 2 Comments

 

Ah negative posts. We’ve all seen them. Do we all love them? Not so much. Do we all know how to deal with them appropriately? Also, maybe not so much. Here’s how you can handle each type of negative post.

Troll

A troll is known for deliberately posting inflammatory or irrelevant comments that can be harmful to the wider community reading those comments. It’s a good idea to monitor the post for any follow-up responses. Alternatively, the post can be deleted or hidden if there is any derogatory or vulgar language in the comment itself.

Misinformed User

Misinformed posts are those posts which contain content that is inaccurate. These posts are generally regarding news and events. It’s a good idea to jump into the conversation and provide accurate information.

Unhappy Client

While it’s unfortunate that your unhappy client is expressing their feelings on a public domain, it’s important to provide a response to the individual with a solution to the problem. The general rule is to respond twice with the second response containing a phone number or e-mail address for the user to have a private discussion with you. This is your opportunity to shine and provide superb customer service to resolve the issue

Ranter or Rager

These types of posts generally come from someone who comments with the intent to cause a debate or stir the pot. The best solution is to monitor these posts with the hope that other social media users will provide a medium to create a healthy debate. If the user continues to fuel a debate with you, then follow the suggestion mentioned in the previous point.

 

Silence or lack of action is often not the best solution, especially on a public domain such as social media. While it may be tempting to block a user or delete a negative post or comment, you’re missing out on an opportunity to rise above.

Do you have any tips for managing a negative post? Share your them in the comments below!

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